Customer Reviews

1980-86

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When people talk about old school Texas punk rock, people usually mention either the Dicks or the Big Boys. This CD, a sampling of the Dicks entire discography, will show you why people keep talking about the Dicks. The first 12 songs feature the original, Texas-based line-up led by vocalist Gary Floyd. This is really the best stuff on the CD. Things kick off with what is perhaps the Dicks' best known song, "Dicks Hate Police" and is a great way to start. Things only get better from there. The tracks from their split live LP with the Big Boys really rock and the stuff from their first full length, "Kill From The Heart" (originally on SST records, now long out of print) is fantastic. I only wish there was more on this CD from that album. 5 songs are just not enough for me. There is a definate touch of Texas-style blues in these songs which I really love. I hear that no one can locate the original master tapes for this album, so the chances that it'll ever be re-released are slim. Up next are the two songs from the "Peace?" single. These are the first to feature the Dicks' 2nd line up, the one Gary Floyd formed in San Francisco. Again, more great stuff. "No F*ckin' War" is just a great, great song. The next tracks are from the Dicks' 2nd (and final) LP, "These People" (originally on Alternative Tentacles). These songs, featuring the SF line-up, are all right, but I find them less interesting than the "Kill From The Heart" stuff. The only song I find completely expendable is is the final song, which again features the Texas line-up and seems like a toss off. The CD booklet is devoid of lyrics, but contains a discography and linear notes from the likes of Gary Floyd, Ian MacKaye, Klaus Flouride, Spot, Mike Watt, and Bob Mould. Essentially listening for fans of early 80's American punk and hardcore.

Brutal, honest, aggressive, misanthropic, righteous and pissed. The Dicks knew how to bring it.

Gary Floyd fused hardcore anger with Texas blues, creating a messy, menacing yet utterly beautiful growl that is comparable to no one.

You don't really have a choice. Buy this CD. IF you wanna shell out some $$$ for the original LP of "Kill From the Heart," it's worth it.

I agree with other reviewers - this reissue would have been better if they'd just included ALL of "Kill from the Heart." I'd go further and say they should have included all of "These People" and both singles plus comp tracks as well. A band this legendary really deserves no less than a full discography reissue.

I disagree with other reviewers who don't care for the slower, bluesier stuff. This is Gary at his vocal best, honing his style, to later be part of the awesome Sister Double Happiness. Give it a chance.

And as much as it bugs the macho hardcore kids, The Dicks weren't just a seminal hardcore band. They were a seminal hardcore band led by an openly gay singer. It's not just shock value. It's real. Think about this next time you're watching yourself in the mirror singing along to "Young Boys' Feet," "Sh*t On Me," and "Saturday Night at the Bookstore."

Enjoy.

I must rock every time I hear one of the tunes on this album. Many, many happy memories of sweat-soaked delirium (it gets rather warm here in TX--perhaps you didn't know?). These guys, and the Big Boys (RIP Biscuit), made the 80s livable for me.

Gary Floyd has an unforgettable voice-raw, pissed, powerful.

If you like this, check out Poison Idea

This CD is long overdue. If your a punk fan, your collection is not complete without this CD. Every song is over the edge from the greatest punk band out of Texas.

man, i wish these guys would have a reunion. i never was too wild about the latter stuff (when they moved to s.f.), but the first incarnation of the band was great. gary's big blusey vocals just fit perfectly over buxf, pat, and glenn's raw, sparse instrumentation. my only grippe for this is that they left about 20 minutes of black space on this cd and this is only selections of each record, i would've found this to be a much better compilation if it were perhaps 2 cds and included all the records and the tracks from the flipside live video with mdc. either that or a reissue of 'kill from the heart' by sst would suffice.

This really is punk rock to me (even though it's also excellent blues some times.) When I've had a bad day being something distinctly un-punk (in the white collar world), the Dicks say all the things that no one speaks of in proper society.

I had the privilege of seeing the Dicks perform in SF in 1985, and Gary had much more charisma than most punk rock lead vocalists. Put Jello Biafra to shame. This album does capture much of that energy, evn though it spans a six-year career.

The Dicks had an incredible run from 1980 to 1986 that was about equally split with two bands fronted by Gary Floyd; based in Austin, Texas (Buxf Parrot, g & b; Glen Taylor, g & b; Pat Deason, d) - 1980-1983 - and San Francisco (Tim Carroll, g; Sebastian Fuchs, b; Lynn Perko, d) from 1983 to 1986.

The 21-track compilation captures the vocal wit of Floyd as the punk blues/hardcore punk tackles such issues as radical politics and homophobia, while demonstrating that the band had a growing set list that came close to the power contained in the classic "Dicks Hate the Police." A member of the Texas Music Hall of Fame, the band delivered a loud and proud punch as Floyd nearly trumped every lead vocalist from this eventful era of an underground movement that could not be bottled up in small clubs and squelched by suits sitting in towers owned by international record labels.

I am not generally nostalgic for things I never saw, but I really, really wish I could have caught The Dicks live. The band were angry, funny, and energetic, like many hardcore bands, but also compassionate in a weird way that we don't often see. Gary Floyd's voice was utterly unique and he could growl with the best of them, but also moan, sing, wail, and scream as the song required. The musicianship is rooted in punk rock but doesn't obey the loud-fast-rules dogma; it's appropriately fast and slow, again, as the song required. The music has moments of blues and rockabilly but never feels retro or contrived at all. Instead of the preaching that we often see in political punk, the lyrics talked in very specific terms about being on the wrong side of American society for one reason or another, and what that actually MEANT, what it was like dealing with the more vicious side of life here. I defend America plenty, but being brown, queer, and/or poor here can often be stinging situation that isn't addressed by vague PC weep sessions, and this disk is never less than honest on that point. This record is amazing both as a great piece of music and a record of anger and humor, and I urge you to pick it up ASAP.

this is the best cd i have bought in years. that dude was right, this is a long over due cd. punk at it's prime. hell, they use to open up for the dead kennedys. damn good band if ya ask me... full 5 stars!!!

"Pretty Car, Who Cares, Three Kids, Who Cares" Some wild lyrics gary floyd sings on track 3. By listening to the whole CD you can tell that the guy he's singing about has a lot problems and a ... trashy life. And that is how this cool CD sounds like, a big rotten piece of the trash-culture as some know it. Drugs, sickniss, problems with the law - you name it. It's there!

Naughty, Naughty. You wouldn't want your mother to hear you playing this.